To garnish

Also known as scallions or green onions, spring onions are in fact very young onions, harvested…

Method

Make the stuffing. Trim the spring onions and shred on the diagonal. Halve the chilli lengthways and scrape out the core and seeds. Cut this and the ginger into needle-thin strips. Crush the garlic.

Heat the oil in a wok, throw in the onions, chilli, ginger and garlic and stir fry over a medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes until softened. Tip in the creamed coconut and stir until it melts and thickens. Add the prawns and toss until they turn pink all over – about 2-3 minutes. Tip into a bowl, season, stir and cool.

Prepare the salmon. Pull out any pin bones from the flesh. Scrape the blunt edge of a large knife against the skin from tail to head to remove any scales. Rinse under cold running water and pat dry. With a very sharp knife or scalpel, score through the skin of one fillet in criss-cross diagonal lines.

Cut a sheet of parchment to fit the base of a roasting tray. Lay the paper on a work surface with one long side facing you. Cut four pieces of string, 30cm in length, and lay vertically at equal intervals on the paper. Put the unscored fillet, skin side down, across the string.

Spread the stuffing over the fillet, pressing down the prawns. Top with the scored fillet, skin side up. Bring the string round the fish and tie on top – position so you can cut either side to give portions of equal size. (The salmon can be made up to this stage the day before and kept, covered, in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before roasting.)

Put the empty roasting tray in the oven. Preheat the oven to fan 220C/ conventional 240C/ gas 9. Lift the salmon on the paper onto the tray. Roast for 15-20 minutes. Open one of the central slashes with a knife to see if the flesh is cooked. Heat the lime or lemon juice, honey and soy sauce in a small pan. Put the salmon on a serving dish and splash over a little sauce. Leave to rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with chilli and spring onion and serve with the remaining sauce.

Comments, questions and tips

Just made this for a pre-Christmas family gathering. Was really delicious. Fairly easy to do. Scaling the salmon took quite a while, maybe ask fish monger to do it?
There were 5 adults and one of the children had a small piece, and still enough for eating cold for 3 of us for lunch tomorrow.
Only issue I had was that the salmon was not opaque right through to the centre, we ate it as it was, and it was meltingly soft and delicious and the filling gives such a wonderful flavour, so as long as no one is ill, was a winner. I cooked it exactly as advised, preheating tin first, and using oven thermometer to check exact temperature. Cooked for 17 mins, and both us ladies thought it seemed done, and did not want to overcook so left it to rest while we ate starters. I think another time I would do the full 20, maybe slightly more. . . .
But other than that, highly recommend!

Joanneroberts44

3rd Nov, 2013

Divine,made with individual salmon fillets the second time ,secured with string,added extra ginger and chilli to give a bit more of a kick, cooked whole, eaten cold for a buffet would be lovely too as the first time I made it we had the left overs for lunch the next day and it tasted even better, great because you can prepare the day before.

minicooper21

3rd Jan, 2013

I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe cooked for a family. The children said u could do this on master chef.....so yes a huge success for all and very tasty. The coconut made it so do not leave out. A very impressive meal. Tks for all the tips.

colettetully

22nd Jan, 2012

5.05

Forgot to rate it. Well deserved 5*

colettetully

3rd Jan, 2012

5.05

Made this for new year party, everyone loved it. One of my guests gave me 11 out of 10! He is a chef he wants the recipe to introduce it in his resturant.

jimmill

27th Sep, 2011

5.05

Absolutely gorgeous.
Made it a few times. My daughter wants this for the centrepiece of her 21st meal with friends!
Wonderful.

judith1948

30th Aug, 2010

5.05

Made this for 6 people and still enough left for 2 more. 1.8 kg seems very excessive for 4 people. However, it tasted wonderful and will be making again.

tastytitbits

3rd Apr, 2010

Re my last comment I meant to say I served it with One Pan Spicy Rice. A lovely meal with Asian flavours.

tastytitbits

3rd Apr, 2010

I only had four salmon fillets so I prepared the stuffing and used it as a top dressing on the fish before baking it in the oven with some coconut milk to keep it moist. Then served it with the One Pan Rice, and the result was a delicious meal without too much fat.

ireland

3rd Aug, 2009

5.05

Very impressive, tastes delicious, even the little piece left over the next day, eaten cold! This is one to impress your guests and can be made the day before and left in the fridge.

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